MARIETTA, Ohio — To say
Tyler Sholl (Johnstown, Ohio/Big Walnut) was spectacular in goal this afternoon would be a gross understatement. Marietta College's senior goalkeeper posted 11 saves as the Pioneers battled No. 15 ranked Kenyon College to a 0-0 double overtime tie Wednesday (Sept. 13) afternoon.
Marietta is now 4-0-1 on the season and Kenyon moves to 4-1-1 overall. The MC defense still has not allowed a goal this season, a streak of 470 scoreless minutes, posting its fifth straight clean sheet.
The 11 saves equaled Sholl's career high matching his performance at Denison University in 2015. The Big Red was ranked ninth nationally when Sholl turned away 11 of their shots in a 2-1 double overtime Denison win in Granville.
"This was not a game for the purist, but I am proud of the boys for going to battle with a very good Kenyon team," Marietta head coach
Joe Bergin said. "We were on our heels a fair bit and every time it looked like we were in big trouble Tyler came up big for us."
Kenyon went on the attack early hitting the crossbar with a pair of header in the first 19 minutes of the match. In addition to the two headers off the bar, Sholl stopped three other Lord shots in the first half.
The second half was a similar story. Kenyon fired off 10 shots in the period and Sholl made several SportsCenter worthy saves.
Marietta did mount more of an offensive attack in the second controlling possession for a large chunk of the period. But the Kenyon defense limited the Pioneers' scoring opportunities.
The two overtime periods were dominated by Kenyon's attack. The Lords took five shots in the first extra period and three more in the second. Sholl picked up four more saves in the extra time to keep the clean sheet.
"I think everyone on the team would tell you that they are not satisfied with this result," Bergin said. "We need to continue working on our game to get ready for the final non-conference games before we begin OAC play at the end of the month."
Marietta's back line did a great job of supporting Sholl in net. Senior
Brent Huck (Marietta, Ohio/Marietta), juniors
Zach Johnson (Beckley, W.Va./Woodrow Wilson) and
Noah Laliberty (Scott Depot, W.Va./Winfield) and sophomore
Sebastian Ziaja (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) won numerous 50-50 balls inside the box frustrating the Kenyon strikers.
Kenyon goalkeeper Ian McInturf played the full 110 minutes and notched a pair of saves.
For the match, Kenyon outshot the Pioneers 25-5, including a 12-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Lords were also awarded 11 corners, while Marietta took only three.
Marietta travels to Cleveland for a non-conference match at Case Western Reserve University on Saturday (Sept. 16). Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
